If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

I reread The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. Oof. I've read it at least twice, once as an adult... It's great worldbuilding, but the writing is... it's not my favorite. It's great for kids, but there's not a lot of depth. Granted, most novels I read are hundreds and hundreds of pages, so a fantasy book I can finish in a day seems quaint... It still felt shallow, while at the same time SUPER heavy on the Jesus imagery. I didn't hate it or anything, but it didn't captivate me the way it did when I was 9.

It kind of feels like the Cliffs Notes of a longer series in some ways. And when the kids go back after a lifetime in Narnia, do they like remember puberty? Did they have love affairs? Kill a human in battle? That's some fucked up shit to bring back through the wardrobe.

^ I agree that it becomes interminably preachy after a certain age, but the White Witch is still one of the coolest baddies of all time. Also, have you read "The Problem of Susan" by Neil Gaiman? It deals with all of those questions that you bring up beautifully.

^ I agree that it becomes interminably preachy after a certain age, but the White Witch is still one of the coolest baddies of all time. Also, have you read "The Problem of Susan" by Neil Gaiman? It deals with all of those questions that you bring up beautifully.

Oooo, no I haven't! I've read a lot (but not all) of Gaiman so I'll go see if my library has it. Thanks!

The White Witch is cool, but I'm dreading as I reread the whole series some of the lesser baddies. She comes back in TMN, I think, right?

And I'm not looking forward to the ending. I hate the ending. Top 10 worst ending for me. (Other examples include The Dark Tower series, Dexter - tv show, having given up on book series ages ago). Poor Susan and her lipstick and hose.

eta: It's a short story... I found it just now and read and I do think I read it before years ago and forgot about it. Team Susan!

The White Witch is cool, but I'm dreading as I reread the whole series some of the lesser baddies. She comes back in TMN, I think, right?

Oh yeah, she's basically the only interesting villain in the whole thing. She does come back in The Magician's Nephew, and some people still argue that she is also the Lady of the Greek Kirtle in The Silver Chair, but that's basically a fan theory. Still, watching the actress from the original BBC series have a full-on psychotic break to play both is among the most cherished memories of my childhood.

I'm basically inconsolable after finishing The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante because I have no more Neapolitan novels now. "But how can a female friendship be interesting enough to span four books?" HOW CAN IT NOT BE, I say.

I'm re-reading Little Women and it's just still so, so good, even when it occasionally dives into a little too much God/religion stuff for me. The later chapters when they're grown up feel so poignant for me right now, at this point in my life regarding relationships, creative ambition, loss, etc.

"See everything as an illusion, and enjoy it even though you are not of it."
~Alanis Morissette, paraphrased

This is a long one, and there were times when I wasn't sure it was all going to come together, but he sold me on it by the end. Hill's line-by-line writing is pretty great, and the set pieces and structure all work really well. An odd book in that it often made me laugh but it was also very emotional, particularly near the end. It has flavors of David Foster Wallace but is less self-consciously "meta" and more engaged with what I would call just plain old good storytelling. There are definitely parts that made me roll my eyes but in the end, I think it passed my test for a "good" book, which is that its merits more than compensated for its flaws. There's a lot of thematic stuff in it about our current sociopolitical climate that made me laugh/cringe/feel hopeful. Recommended.

Elmet by Fiona Mozley

Sort of like a weird mix of Emily Bronte and Cormac McCarthy. Mozley's prose is deeply poetic, and the ideas here are good ones, but it's kind of all over the place from a plot/structure perspective. Proceed with caution.

"See everything as an illusion, and enjoy it even though you are not of it."
~Alanis Morissette, paraphrased

These are political essays spanning the eras of Reagan through Clinton. Kinda blew my mind. First, the 'Political Pornography' and 'Clinton Agonistes' essays were mega eye opening. It would be disturbing how topical the observations within them remain today, the players different but the game the same, twenty plus years later, if it wasn't so absolutely predictable that they would foretell the future.

(collapsed for length)

In another essay, she completely shreds journalist Bob Woodward, cornhole to mouthhole, for his journalistic style of reporting in which he reports essentially what he is asked to report by politicians, rather than investing and reporting what is actually happening, without questioning it. This is everywhere today, but perhaps it was not always so. Interesting. I had never heard of him. He played a key role in Nixon getting busted for Watergate.

I want to read 'Agonistes' ten more times and map out all the parallels with Trumpo and the American political situation of now: the fixation on character, the absolute capitulation of the political parties to small, non-representative slivers of the population to eek out wins, and the havoc brought about as a result of cable news (now buoyed and rendered even more malignant thanks to "social" "media") Is Trump not Tonya Harding, OJ Simpson, Jerry Springer, Monica Lewinsky and all that trashy scandalous stuff manifest in the form of a particularly lumpy, oily, and utterly ridiculous US President?

Her assertion that many Americans didn't give two shits about Clinton's sexual escapades is so true (raising my own hand here), and it's kind of terrible to confront the reality that equally many Americans don't care about Trumpo's racism, misogyny, lack of credentials and constant lies. But still I agree that his character should not be the focus of political conversation. What's substantive is the policies, the precedents, the destruction, the effects of his postures and decisions and signatures. Which in my mind begs the question: Are normal Americans incapable of consuming and making use of actual, substantive journalism? Which came first: chicken or egg? Here comes the airplane!

We're so fucking fucked.

After reading "God's County", I'm wondering whether Christianity is as valuable a political currency as it once was, or less, or more... too valuable at any rate. We live in such a weird time, where so many folks have woken up, but many others are running for the cave as fast as possible, mostly I'd wager as a result of manipulation and direction by bad authorities at some point in their lives (such a striking preference in that crowd for douchey/wannabe/alpha male impersonating/authority figures!)

I feel this book has to some extent brought me full circle in my political understanding - born in 79, it more or less covers the full first half of my life. The second half, 2000-on, I can remember; and now I am seeing connections and patterns and a continuum and an arc.... of terribleness.

... So yes, it's heavy reading, but *very* worthwhile. It will broaden your perspective and challenge (and increase) your understanding of our terribly confused political times. Joan Didion is my forever fave - she has the most amazing way with words. And she's just an extraordinary thinker. Any fans here on un?

I also just read Carry On by Rainbow Rowell, which is a fun twist on Harry Potter, if Harry was gay. I can not stress how much I loved this book. It was magical, funny, subversive, sexy, sad....everything I need in a “let me live in a fantasy world for a bit” kind of book. It was seriously so cute and entertaining. Its also one of those books that I’d love be turned into a Netflix show ( which I think could work brilliantly).

I am on a YA kick currently, myself, having just read Eleanor and Parkby Rainbow Rowell. I have a soft spot for Rowell since she's a native Nebraskan, like me. I found the book to be engaging and I think dealt with teenage romance and complicated families fairly well.

^I need to read that one. I just picked up a ton of new books, including the two new “girl” thrillers, The Woman in the Window and The Wife Between Us. I’ve read really great reviews of the former, so I think I’m going to read it first.

I also bought all of the Neopolitan novels and can’t wait to see what so many here have been raving about. Also really looking forward to The Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. I’ll let you guys know what I think!